Related Field
Embodiments of the present invention relate to geographical analysis and, in particular, to detecting subterranean properties of a geological domain.
Description of Related Art
Sinkholes are a growing problem all over the United States of America, as well as in South America, Europe, and Asia. The number of claims related to sinkholes in Florida alone has recently grown from 2,360 in 2006 to 6,694 in 2010, totaling 24,671 claims throughout that period. The total cost of sinkhole claims amounted to 1.4 billion during that time. Presently, only limited technology is available for identifying sinkholes, which makes prescreening of proposed building construction sites and repairs of existing structures very difficult. Moreover, the formation and growth of a sinkhole is a dynamic process, changing sometimes drastically over time. As a result, structures that were once safe, e.g., during construction, may be at risk over time, suggesting the need for possible investigation over the life of the structure.
Sinkholes may be of varying sizes and may occur at varying depths in a substrate. The void created by the sinkhole may be filled with different materials (e.g., air, water, or soil) or a mixture of more than one material. Furthermore, the material directly above and surrounding a particular sinkhole may have any of a number of different characteristics. As a result, a significant amount of variation may exist regarding the circumstances of a particular sinkhole. Many current solutions for identifying the existence, size, and/or location of sinkholes, therefore, require initial data models of the domain and/or suffer from slow response times and a lack of precision and reliability.
Accordingly, it may be desirable to provide improved systems and methods for efficiently and effectively detecting subterranean properties of a geological domain, such as sinkholes, voids, or anomalies.